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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Eyes of Jesus

Recently I discovered about myself that I have somehow come to love
the Scriptures about Jesus more than I love the man Himself. While I
will always consider the Bible to be a treasure beyond worth, I want to
love Jesus more than anything. I want Him to be the center of my worship and devotion. And so I have set myself on a path to discover who He was and is. My goal is to know Him that I might love Him.

Today I read a section of Philip Yancey's book The Jesus I Never Knew
that discussed Jesus' appearance. Which is really difficult to do in
any educated sort of manner since we really have no record of what Jesus
actually looked like. Over the centuries, each ethnicity has created
images of Him that match images of themselves. That seems a little
backwards to me, since we are actually created in HIS image. (Gen.
1:26) Yancey pointed out that the only description of Jesus' appearance
was actually written WAY before His entry into our world, and it
doesn't describe Him as a very attractive sort of man.

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2b)

As
I thought about Jesus' appearance, I began to contemplate His eyes.
They would have been brown, of course, because He was Jewish. And I
expect that they had a bit of sparkle to them. Not an ornery sparkle,
though, just the gleam of someone who really enjoyed life. I imagine
that they were warm and inviting, smiling.

Until He
looked upon the face of someone who was hurting. Then you could see the
compassion in His eyes, the shared suffering. Perhaps you would expect
to see condemnation, judgement, but there was none. Instead His eyes
spoke of forgiveness and love and acceptance.

Except
for the religious leaders who claimed to be righteous, but whose hearts
were filled to the brim with selfishness. Toward them, Jesus' eyes
sparked with anger and indignation and yes, judgement. As I read the
Gospels, I find it is only to the self-righteous leaders that Jesus
speaks words of condemnation. I wonder what it felt like for them to
have the Son of God's eyes bearing down on them. Maybe I don't want to
know.

Maybe you're wondering what significance Jesus' eyes have for me. Why does it matter what they looked like?

For
me, a person's eyes are the window to their soul. Weariness, joy,
anger, untold sorrow...they are all evident in a person's eyes. Love,
hatred, compassion, contempt. A person's words tell me what they want
me to know, but their eyes tell me the real story.

So
as I study the person of Jesus and begin to know Him as a man, I see His
eyes, and His eyes tell me who He is. As I read about how He
interacted with the people around Him, I can see in my mind His eyes and
know that He was real. And those dark, warm, compassionate eyes invite
me to come into His presence, to allow Him see into MY eyes, to see
behind the facade, behind the wall that keeps me safe from the world.
And in His eyes, I find acceptance...full and complete acceptance.

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Hi, I'm Angela!

But most most people know me as Angie...or Mom...or Mrs. Logan. With four school-aged children and a music-teacher husband, life gets a little chaotic and a lot messy. I'm sure you can relate! When I'm not chasing my kids or cleaning up after them or snuggled up close with them, I am busy pursuing my passion of studying and teaching God's Word. It is my heart's truest desire to be used by God to shine His light into our dark world.